Has anyone heard the Devialet D-Premier Integrated Amp/DAC

[bernardl]

Actually, the increase of the perceived sound quality with volume is also pretty non linear with a single D-Premier.

On my set-up the sound goes from very good at -40db to excellent at -35db to utterly brilliant at -30db.

I am aware that higher volume always tends to sound better, but the effect seems more pronounced with the D-Premier. -35bd to -30bd is just about right in my set up so I don't see this as an issue.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Orb]

I must admit to me the Devialet D-Premier sounds the same whether quite or moderate (not pushed near limits) loudness.
I am comparing this though to amps with sliding bias where it is possible to notice the difference in quality IMO between the Class A operation and when it then moves to Class AB.
More generally though, I find the Devialet actually good used quite when compared to other amps, but I would say a lot comes down to gain/etc if comparing to seperates.

Cheers
Orb

 

[bernardl]

It is probably less the case since firmware 5.3.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Orb]

OK after plenty of time with the Devialet now with my Sonus Faber Guaneri Palladios, two Devialets are required working in mono mode to sound their best.
Chatting to dealer, seems other Devialet customers have come to the same conclusion regarding the improvement and are looking to purchase 2nd unit; whether new or in hope of some selling their unit.

So I do suggest those who audition the Devialet do so in single unit stereo and two unit mono to get a feel for the difference.

My only gripe is that with this being an all-in-one solution it is not possible to attain subjective preference if it deviates from "true" neutral, as an example I really would like the option to change digital setting to a slow roll-off starting at 16khz, with possibly further option dealing with group delay/phase distortion ala Wadia, or resolving excessive sibilance in recordings.
However from my email conversations with Devialet it looks highly unlikely they will implement options that will deviate from a neutral and linear performance.

That said dual mono provides excellent natural and organic sound that is one of the best I have heard in the solid state world, especially if going downloads and hi-rez.

Cheers
Orb

 

[ferenc_k]

If you have a problem with the sibilance, you probably can to try a different speaker, like the Zu Omen Definition. It works extremely well with a Devialet and with modern strongly processed recordings.

 

[Orb]

Thanks for the suggestion Ferenc and welcome
The one thing I like about the SF speakers is that they are slightly romantic, which for me works well with a good neutral amp, but I will do a bit of investigation on the Zu.

Thanks
Orb

 

[naturephoto1]

Thanks for the suggestion Ferenc and welcome
The one thing I like about the SF speakers is that they are slightly romantic, which for me works well with a good neutral amp, but I will do a bit of investigation on the Zu.

Thanks
Orb

Unfortunately Zu Audio has no distribution to the best of my knowledge in the UK. Zu Audio is based out of Ogden, UT. I used to buy cables from them for some time soon after they started in business. Nice guys to deal with. If you want to get some info, you may want to send something off to Adam Decaria (one of the founders) at Zu. I have had many conversations with Adam who is a great guy to deal with and quite knowledgeable about their products.

Rich

 

[ferenc_k]

Hi Richard,

according to Zu's home page and 6moons:

"Zu's UK importer Simon Matanle"

http://www.zuaudio.com/about-simon.php

Unfortunately Zu Audio has no distribution to the best of my knowledge in the UK. Zu Audio is based out of Ogden, UT. I used to buy cables from them for some time soon after they started in business. Nice guys to deal with. If you want to get some info, you may want to send something off to Adam Decaria (one of the founders) at Zu. I have had many conversations with Adam who is a great guy to deal with and quite knowledgeable about their products.

Rich

 

[ferenc_k]

Hi Orb,

The Zu Omen Definition is kind of really special combination with the Devialet.
It is not without fault and some ways probably too much different to the SF speaker you have. It is way better with the Devialet than Zu Soul Superfly or Zu Omen or the classic Zu Druid, at least for me . If there is a life, emotion in the recording, this combo will show it plus this is the very few combo that can sound really loud at a home environment, but can be enjoyable late night too. Sorry for being so enthusiastic, but it is one of the most surprising combination in my 30 years of hifi life.

Thanks for the suggestion Ferenc and welcome
The one thing I like about the SF speakers is that they are slightly romantic, which for me works well with a good neutral amp, but I will do a bit of investigation on the Zu.

Thanks
Orb

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Richard,

according to Zu's home page and 6moons:

"Zu's UK importer Simon Matanle"

http://www.zuaudio.com/about-simon.php

Sorry,

When I looked and still look, I can not find any dealers listed for the UK; in fact their website only shows 2 dealers in Europe as Zu Austria and Zu Belgium.

Rich

 

[ferenc_k]

Sorry,

When I looked and still look, I can not find any dealers listed for the UK; in fact their website only shows 2 dealers in Europe as Zu Austria and Zu Belgium.

Rich

I tried Google and it came out, did not try the Zu home page to be honest.

 

[Orb]

While I have heard the dual slave-mono configuration before, today I listened to this in my own setup for quite a few hours.
Personally I feel two are critical to overcome what some may be sensitive to from one;
Amir I think I now understand where you are coming from and the 5.3 software on its own would not resolve this, however the dual setup I feel would.

Apart from the sound being even smoother, greater texture-depth-resolution, richer dynamics,etc, a key change is a subtle aspect involving med-to-high frequency intregration (best that I can describe it) and in a dual setup this is fully resolved, part of this can also be noticed with improvement on silibance and maybe subtle phase aspects.

Interesting, some of my older CD recordings now present greater noise from them.
I say interesting because the Devialet is incredibly resolving system so strange this should be picked out even more in a dual system, not a bad thing as it is there originally and I did not find it intrusive but a definite aspect identified in terms of greater performance beyond just the subjective improvements.

So, if interested in the Devialet, one is good but need to listen very carefully, however one should remember the price is incredibly competitive, and for the best sound two is critical IMO (still a very good price for the sound quality).
Only criticism is that I feel some other big amps still have greater swell type related dynamics that may stand out on less sensitive speakers (wonder if this comes back to power reserve and capacitance storage), but the dual system does everything else superb and is up there with SOTA solid state best for long term listening and reference.

Cheers
Orb

 

[FREND147]

Hi,
I have owned a Devialet D Premier since June 2010. I have never participated in on line discussions before but have followed this one with great interest since it was started last year.
To be honest most of the technical stuff that has been discussed is way beyond my understanding, but reading different member`s opinions of how this unit sounds has been quite enlightening.
After initially being wowed by the Devialet, longer term listening over the following months has left me less so. It could be that perhaps the Devialet is just a little too neutral for my particular listening tastes, I`m not sure. Rock music seems to suffer the most with the sound perhaps lacking authority and a little on the polite side also.
Upgrading the software to the latest 5.3 has improved the sound quality but ultimately I still find myself hankering after a bit more perceived weight from the sound, especially on less than perfectly recorded cds.
After reading some of the latest posts on this subject, it really does seem to me now that to achieve really decent results from the Devialet it is possibley going to mean having two of them to run as monos. Unfortunately, due to the cost, it is not an option for me to do this and subject to a home test of an amplifier that a friend of mine is selling being positive, then I`m pretty sure my Devialet will be put on the used market.
Cheers,
Paul.

 

[steve williams]

Welcome to WBF Paul and thanks for your first hand impressions of the Devialet D

 

[Orb]

Indeed welcome Paul
In initial listening the D-Premier has some very impressive sound quality in terms of providing a very neutral sound but without the associated solid state class AB and class D amp limitations (usually along the lines of being lean, too cool, dry, analytical).
That said over time it is other aspects-characteristics I feel we pick up.
Paul, the easiest way to tell if it is a trait with the D-Premier is listen to it in dual slave mode, personally I feel this is the only way to listen to the D-Premier, but as you mention it is the cost to do so.

My gut feeling is that something is happening with the current dumping (where it is combining Class D and Class A) in different parts of the frequency, I feel I can detect some kind of artifact/phase type niggle between the low/mid and the high frequency that is possibly similar to what Amir picked up.
Driving this at louder volume (which is more likely if speakers are not sensitive) and have reasonable space seems to make this attribute more noticable.
Going with dual D-Premier resolves this problem, along with adding greater weight-depth to the instruments, and improving the smoothness even further but without losing the detail or finesse.
Paul, one suggestion; have you tried to plug your CD player's analogue outputs into the D-premier instead of going digital to digital?
This does it will be re-converted back to digital but may provide some subtle characteristics that you like from your current player.
Suggesting this as I would love Devialet to offer different digital settings to offset its excellent but very neutral sound.

Keep us informed on what you feel your hearing and whether you try the CD player using analogue, and what you decide to do in future.
Cheers
Orb

 

[FREND147]

Hi Orb,

Many thanks for your reply and comments.

You could well be correct with your description, but as I mentioned in my initial post I`m not great on the technical side.
I do find the sound of the Devialet "Impressive", especially with good discs, but have struggled to fall in love with it. It`s just not a sound that I feel I want to listen to for hours on end.
I did try connecting it as you suggested, but to be fair I haven`t done so since the 5.3 upgrade. I did struggle to notice any real difference before but will give another go when I get the opportunity.
Cheers for now,
Paul.

 

[bernardl]

How about trying with 4 devialets?

Double amplification and dual mono. not sure if it is supported though.

As far as I am concerned I did find power cable and filtering to have a positive impact on sound quality. I have been using a black noise 2500 filter with an esoteric 7100 cable with very pleasant results.

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Orb]

So no dual mono yet for you Bernard
This is something I am thinking very strongly of doing.

Thanks
Orb

 

[fas42]

As far as I am concerned I did find power cable and filtering to have a positive impact on sound quality. I have been using a black noise 2500 filter with an esoteric 7100 cable with very pleasant results.

This implies that the power supplies in the Devialet require a higher level of engineering, as does the fact that dual monos do a better job. As just mentioned by myself in another thread, and often at other times, the power supply most assuredly will make or break a potentially superior component. In the quest to achieve an aesthetically pleasing, small volume unit the designers possibly cut just one too many corners in this area ...

Frank

 

[Orb]

This implies that the power supplies in the Devialet require a higher level of engineering, as does the fact that dual monos do a better job. As just mentioned by myself in another thread, and often at other times, the power supply most assuredly will make or break a potentially superior component. In the quest to achieve an aesthetically pleasing, small volume unit the designers possibly cut just one too many corners in this area ...

Frank

What I am picking up with the dual monos I feel is not related to the power supply, which is an innovation compared to any other supply used currently in hifi gear.
The power supply/regulation is quite incredible from a technology point of view.
People hear improvements with various well engineered established high end audio amps/dacs/etc when using cables-filters, you going to suggest the same about those as well?
I hope this is not coming off strong but it is a bit reckless to make that claim Frank without all the information, especially when people will read it and then assume the power supply design is flawed or corners cut, which IMO is not but either way we do not have the facts to make that claim seem so strong.

If there is a limitation regarding this side, it is the smaller powere reserve compared to larger amps and the implementation of capacitors.
To me D-Premier does not compare to those amps with much greater reserves when dealing with dynamic swells, it does well but not as good.
For some this will not matter as it is better than a single D-Premier, for some others they want the full sensation of those dynamic swells that they hear from the big amps.

Edit:
Just to add it is worth remembering these engineers were involved in the research and design of state of the art telecom/SP core routers-switches-etc, where they must be incrediably resilient and not suffer failures.
Nortel was acknowledged as one of the very best for such core network/sp/telecom gear.
This has fair amount of bearing when considering the power supply and whether it has engineering problems or design shortcuts-limitations.

Cheers
Orb